Pet Sematary (1989)
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A family's move to a rural Maine home leads to a terrifying discovery when they learn of the consequences of a local burial ground.
The story
The Creed family moves from Chicago to a rural home in Ludlow, Maine, where Louis Creed takes a job as a local physician. After their pet cat, Church, is killed by a truck, a neighbor named Jud Crandall leads Louis to an ancient Mi'kmaq burial ground to perform a ritual. While the ritual successfully reanimates the cat, it introduces a malevolent force into their lives. The situation turns dire when the family's young son, Gage, is also killed by a truck on the nearby highway, leading the grieving father to consider the dangerous ritual once again.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After the cat Church is reanimated in a Mi'kmaq burial ground, the family's son Gage is killed by a truck. Despite warnings from Jud Crandall and the ghost of Victor Pascow, Louis Creed buries Gage in the ritual site. The boy returns as a malevolent entity, eventually murdering Jud and Rachel. Louis, driven to madness, eventually faces the reanimated Gage and later finds himself in a final, tragic confrontation with the resurrected Rachel.
- First release year
- 1989
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Mary Lambert
- Writers
- Stephen King · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Dale Midkiff · Louis Creed; Fred Gwynne · Jud Crandall; Denise Crosby · Rachel Goldman-Creed; Miko Hughes · Gage Creed; Blaze Berdahl · Ellen "Ellie" Creed; Brad Greenquist · Victor Pascow; Michael Lombard · Irwin Goldman; Susan Blommaert · Missy Dandridge
- Genres
- supernatural horror
- Themes
- grief; resurrection; consequences of interference with the dead
- Tone and mood
- supernatural; horror; gruesome
- Premise and plot tags
- supernatural; horror; reanimation; based on a novel
- Source material / true-story basis
- Stephen King's 1983 novel of the same name
- Franchise connections
- Pet Sematary
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews and was described as a 'bruising horror flick' that was a box-office success despite its critical reception.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 38 · scale: 100 · review count: 12
- Production trivia
- The film features two songs by the Ramones.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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